MISENHEIMER, N.C. – Mount Olive College would pull down 52 rebounds, 24 on the offensive glass, and turn them into 30 second-chance points en route to a 90-78 victory over Pfeiffer University in Conference Carolinas men’s basketball on Wednesday night. The win pushes the Trojans to 6-7 overall after their fifth-straight win, 3-4 in league play, while the Falcons drop to 3-11, 1-6.

Late in the first half, the Falcons found themselves up one, 28-27, with 4:19 to play before the break after a pair of successful free throws by Jerod Wallace (Charlotte, NC). Darrell Patterson (Woodbridge, VA) would convert an old-fashioned three-point play seconds later to give Mount Olive a 30-28 advantage. Patterson, who scored a game-high 25 points off the bench, started an 18-7 run to close out the first half giving the Trojans a 45-35 lead at intermission.

Mount Olive would open things up late in the second half after Pfeiffer trimmed the lead down to eight on three different occasions in the first seven minutes of action. Tayron Gibson (Dumfries, VA) started with a three-point play at the 16:40 mark while Wallace added two more just 1:36 later. After an AJ Clark (Burlington, NC) layup that cut the lead down to 56-48 with 13:37 remaining, a Patterson three began a 22-10 stretch that quickly saw Mount Olive go up 20 with 7:29 left. Pfeiffer would get as close as 15 over the final minutes, trimming the final score down to a dozen after a free throw and final layup by David McNair (Roanoke Rapids, NC).

Behind Patterson’s 25 for Mount Olive, Jordan McCain (Woodbridge, VA) tallied 14 off the bench as the Trojans scored 53 of their 90 with reserves. Dory Hines (Kinston, NC) just missed the rare triple-double scoring 10 points with nine rebounds and nine assists. For Pfeiffer, Matt Ellwood (Lees Summit, MO) led the way with 18 points connecting on six threes from behind the arc. Wallace would add 15 while Gibson contributed 14. Pfeiffer outshot Mount Olive from the field, behind the arc and at the free throw line on Wednesday, but the +22 rebound margin for the Trojans turned out to be the difference.

Pfeiffer will now look towards Saturday and a matchup with visiting North Greenville at 4:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at http://www.gofalconsports.com.